Inquest opens into deaths of mum and three children in Bradford house fire

A mother died less than an hour after police were called to a house fire that also killed her three children, a coroner has heard.

Bryonie Gawith, 29, Denisty Birtle, nine, Oscar Birtle, five, and 22-month-old Aubree Birtle died after the fire in Westbury Road, Bradford, in the early hours of 21 August.

An inquest was opened and adjourned into their deaths at Bradford Coroner's Court on Wednesday, 4 September.

Coroner’s officer Helen Binns said: “At 2.07am an urgent call was made to West Yorkshire Police to say a family house was on fire.

“Present in the house was Bryonie Gawith and her three children.

“Police and fire services attended, however, despite their best efforts, they sadly died.”

The hearing heard Ms Gawith died at 2.48am at the home she shared with her children.

The coroner was told three suspects have been identified, with two men already appearing before the courts.

Det Insp Eleanor Buchanan, of West Yorkshire Police, said a third man was removed from the property at the time of the incident and taken to hospital, where he remains in a critical condition.

Senior coroner Martin Fleming suspended the inquest until the conclusion of criminal proceedings.

The coroner said he was awaiting a full report from a pathologist into the deaths but was “keen to release the family to their loved ones” and would sign the “appropriate papers”.

Mohammed Shabir, 44, of Alice Street, Keighley, and Calum Sunderland, 25, of Calton Street, Keighley, have been charged with murdering Ms Gawith and the three children, and attempting to murder Antonia Gawith.

They were remanded in custody until their next appearance at the same court for a plea and trial preparation hearing on September 25.

Judge Jonathan Rose, the Recorder of Bradford, set a provisional trial date of March 4.

West Yorkshire Police said four other people remain under investigation, including a 39-year-old man who was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder and remains in hospital in a critical condition.

The force confirmed the man in hospital is the ex-partner of a woman who was visiting the family.

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